


Waiting & Watching

by geeky__chick



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Infinity War spoilers, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Valki - Freeform, Valki baby
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-08
Updated: 2018-05-08
Packaged: 2019-05-03 19:22:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14575899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/geeky__chick/pseuds/geeky__chick
Summary: The Valkyrie meets Loki in the Beyond, following his death at the hands of the Mad Titan.





	Waiting & Watching

**Author's Note:**

> I couldn't help it. I had to do more.

She felt the pull of Valhalla hours after the escape pods blasted away from the ship. She’d taken the _Commodore_ , his voice shouting at her to go ricocheting through her head on an endless, heartbreaking loop. Because she loved him, because she loved what they had together, she’d heeded his words.

And then, in the silence of space, she felt the Call. A valorous death on a field of battle.

_Loki._

Giving herself over to it, the Valkyrie allowed the power she’d once shunned to flow through her. The body occupying the pilot’s seat went limp, her consciousness floating out, above, into the ether of Beyond.

There, in the gray wastes, he stood. Waiting.

“No.”

The word punched up from her throat, a gasp of pain as it fractured her heart. She’d known, of course she had, in the deepest recesses of her heart, that it would end this way. The moment he’d told her who was coming and what the Titan wanted, Valkyrie knew that her beloved would not survive.

“It didn’t go as well as we hoped, my darling.” Her husband said quietly, moving toward her in that ethereal glide she knew from a million crossings.

“You can’t be.” Brunnhilde gasped again, her breath stolen by the pain not contained to her mortal body. “You told me we would have a life on Earth, that we would do this together.”

Loki reached for her, his body a mist that matched hers. His touch was soft, an echo of what it would have been in life and Brunnhilde grieved for the loss of that familiar chill. His hand smoothed over her belly, the barely perceptible swell only they were privy to molded under his fingers.

“I tend to break promises, my love.” Loki told her, those gray-blue eyes filled with sorrow. “If you had known what we planned, you’d have never agreed to leave.”

“Of course I wouldn’t have!” Brunnhilde shouted. “I would have stood at your side, I’d have shoved my blade through that wrinkled grape and sung about it!”

“No.” Loki’s voice was unusually harsh. “You would have died in my arms, and our child with you. Thanos would not have spared you or the child, not if you stood between him and his destiny.”

Brunnhilde pushed him away, turning her back on the ghostly form of her husband as he stared after her. The Beyond would only hold them for minutes, allowing a Valkyrie to decide if the warrior deserved Valhalla or Hel.

“Hilde.” He whispered his preferred nickname, touching her shoulder lightly. “I had to protect you and our child. Thor…I don’t know if he’ll make it. It will fall to you to lead our people, to be Queen, to raise the next generation of Asgardian leaders. I know it isn’t fair to put this on you, but there is no one else.”

She did not turn, her heart a gaping wound within her breast. Hilde knew he was right, that there had been no other choice. The child inside of her, a culmination of an affair lasting only two months, deserved a chance at life. Brunnhilde had promised Loki, when she learned of the pregnancy, that she would do everything in her power to protect the child. But, days later…

“I swore I would protect you. I swore to fight for you, to be at your side come whatever end.” Hilde faced the man she loved, heart aching further at the soft sadness on his handsome face. “I stood beside you and became your wife with those words. You took that from me.”

“For our child.” Loki whispered, moving closer once more. “He or she deserves to see the sun, to run through grassy fields and learn a blade at the knee of his or her mother. I wanted to be there, Brunnhilde, I wanted to be there for every moment, every joy, every sorrow. My only regret in this life is that I did not lay eyes on our child.”

Hilde swallowed hard, meeting his gaze and reaching up to cup his sharp cheek. Tears fell from those familiar eyes, his hands reaching out to grasp her fingers, to smooth over the tiny swell of her belly.

“I know.” Hilde whispered in return. “And you will see him. Or her. From the hall of your father.”

Loki blinked, the surprise written on his face. He did not believe he would be worthy of Valhalla, thought his soul doomed to the darkness of Hel. But his bride knew differently.

“I could not have come if the way was not open to you.” Brunnhilde smiled, tears slipping from her eyes. “And when I have raised our child, when I have done my duty, I will join you. Go home, Warrior. Prince. Magician. Husband. _Father_.”

“I love you.” Loki choked on the words, crushing his mouth to hers desperately. “I’ll be waiting and watching. Every moment.”

“I love you.” Hilde said softly, the gray mist parting behind her husband. “Say hello to your mother for me.”

His smile widened as the Beyond hurtled him toward the other side, away from her.

Hilde crashed back to her body and wept.

~**~

In the hall of the King, in a country only newly called their home, the Princess of Asgard strode into the throne room.

The people of Asgard and human friends of her king ringed the throne room, smiling and cheerful for the day they had so long prepared for.

Dressed in her husband’s customary colors, Brunnhilde marched imperiously toward the throne, arching a brow at the king as he grinned down at her in a most un-kinglike manner.

The child in her arms grunted at the increase of sound, of light, of movement around her. Hilde stopped at the dais holding her king and dropped to one knee, her newborn cradled against her chest.

“Allfather.” Brunnhilde’s voice reached even the back of New Asgard’s wide hall, clear and strong. “I present to you Princess Frigga, daughter of Loki.”

“My heir.” Thor chimed in, tears standing in his mismatched eyes. “My niece. The sunlight of this world.”

“A bit much,” Brunnhilde murmured, earning a laugh.

“Asgard, Earth, join my family in welcoming its newest member. The child of my brother, who fought valiantly against the Mad Titan. Daughter of the Last Valkyrie, Princess of Asgard, my sister.”

Cheers went up in quick succession as Thor took the blue-tinged child into his arms. Frigga favored her father, dark hair and mischief shining in her blue eyes. Every time Hilde looked at her child, she felt the love of her husband, their bond that existed even beyond death.

Thor held Frigga to his chest, touching her brow with his fingertips in ancient benediction. She knew that he, too, thought of Loki in this moment and how his brother might have adored the child he fashioned with his wife.

Their eyes met and for a moment, they allowed themselves to simply _miss_ him.

“Frigga Lokisdottir,” Thor said softly.  “You are safe. You are _loved_.”

Beyond the king, in the wide windows, Brunnhilde thought she caught a glimpse of two figures standing behind the swaying curtains. She drew no attention to them, though she offered both a smile. They waited, quiet and still, merely watching as he had promised.

Brunnhilde retrieved her child from the king, heading into the reception for her Naming.

When she looked back to the window, they were gone.


End file.
